The Pattern of Judgments (A Cycle Beginning with New Creation and Ending with Judgment) - Part VIII
The Ending of Major Cycle II!
Introduction
As stated in Part I, Genesis 1-3 contains a group of sixteen themes/events1 which combine to form a particular pattern that is repeated numerous times throughout the Bible. I call this the Pattern of Judgments. The Genesis 1-3 thematic pattern starts with Adonai (the Lord) initiating some form of new creation, and ends with Him meting out judgment upon those who have transgressed His commandments in some egregious manner. The first example of this cycle can be seen in Genesis 1-7, where Adonai initiated the cycle with the creation of the heavens and earth (Genesis 1:1-2), and then the cycle was brought to an end with the judgment of Noah’s flood (Genesis 7). Thus, Genesis 1-7 is what I term a major cycle of this Pattern of Judgments. Chapter 8 then starts a new major cycle with a “new creation” of the earth out of the chaotic waters of Noah’s flood which is a prophetic replay of the creation out of the waters of chaos in Genesis 1!
In addition to the major cycles, there are also minor cycles. They are minor cycles because they only contain a few of the sixteen themes presented in Genesis 1-3, as opposed to a major cycle which will contain many of them. Despite this, minor cycles have clearly defined beginnings and endings. Genesis 1-7 is Major Cycle #1, and can be divided thematically into the following 3 minor cycles as follows:
Genesis 1-3—The sixteen foundational themes for the Pattern of Judgments
Minor Cycle #1—Genesis 4:1-24
Minor Cycle #2—Genesis 4:25-5:32
Minor Cycle #3—Genesis 6:1-7:24.
As you can see, Genesis 1-3 establishes the full array of themes found in the Pattern of Judgments, and then Genesis 4-7 contains three minor cycles. The key to 1) understanding how the pattern repeats itself, and 2) how to perceive this pattern as it occurs, is to continually thematically connect the events in the Biblical narratives back to the sixteen foundational themes established in Genesis 1-3.
The previous articles focused on Major Cycle #2, specifically Minor Cycles #1 and #2. In this article we will focus on elucidating Minor Cycle #3!
Major Cycle # 2—Genesis 8:1–19:29
Minor Cycle #1—Genesis 8:1–9:29
Minor Cycle #2—Genesis 10:1–11:26
Minor Cycle #3—Genesis 11:27–19:29
Minor Cycle #3—Genesis 11:27-19:29
At this point in the development of the pattern of judgments we should take stock of where we’ve been. From Genesis 4-10 we have made connections to many of the themes found in Genesis 1-3. Although we have seen many of the themes of Genesis 1-3 reappear in later chapters, there have been some themes that have not been so prominent. For example, we saw the following themes reappear many times throughout Genesis 4-11:
Genesis 1:1-25—New Creation of the Universe
Genesis 1:26-28—Man, God’s Image-Bearer, Commissioned to Exercise Dominion Over Creation
Genesis 1:29-31—Man’s Diet
Genesis 2:1-3—The Sign of the Sabbath
Genesis 2:4-9—Man’s Work in His Ancestral Plot of Land
Genesis 3:1-7—Fall into Sin
Genesis 3:8-13—Adonai Investigating Sin
Genesis 3:15—Enmity of the Seed
Genesis 3:20-21—Acts of Redemption
Genesis 3:22-24—Judgment
The themes in bold are themes that were very prominent in these first few chapters. However, notice that we have not seen very much concerning the following themes:
Genesis 2:10-14—Natural Riches of the Creation
Genesis 2:15-17—The Choice Between Life and Death
Genesis 2:18-25—A Virginal Bride for the Man
Genesis 3:14—The Curse on the Serpent
Genesis 3:16—Pain in Childbirth
Genesis 3:17-19—Curse on the Land
Beginning with Genesis 12, we will begin to see the addition of other themes that have not been so prominent. If we stick to a literal interpretation of the sixteen themes of Genesis 1-3, we should expect to see some type of new creation at this point. After all, once we finished Genesis 1-7, we saw another new creation (in Genesis 8) out of the waters of Noah’s flood, complete with 1) the waters parting to reveal the land, 2) new vegetation sprouting upon the earth, 3) a man commissioned to rule the earth with authority from heaven, and 4) animals setting foot on a newly- cleansed land. However, we don’t see that in Genesis 12. I’d like to suggest to you that this theme of new creation is still present, even though we don’t literally see a new earth as in Genesis 1, or a newly-constituted earth as in Genesis 8. I think the reason is clear. Adonai is not going to continue to destroy the earth and start over each time with a newly refurbished earth in each of these patterns of judgments. However, despite the fact that we don’t see a literal new earth, we do see many of the other themes associated with the establishment of a new earthly order. Let’s see how this occurs.
Genesis 1:26-28—Man, God’s Image-Bearer, Commissioned to Exercise Dominion Over Creation
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”2
There are two important connections to examine here: the choice of a man to lead Adonai’s plan of redemption and His promise to multiply the man’s descendants. These two themes are part of Minor Cycle #3! First, notice how Adonai has chosen Abram as his agent on earth.
“Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your
name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
When Adonai started his previous new creations He chose a man to exercise His authority in the earth. He chose Adam at the first literal creation of the earth and he chose Noah after recreating the earth after the flood. So likewise, Genesis 12:1-3 recounts how Adonai commissioned Abram to be the beginning of this new phase of His redemptive work. Adonai is beginning another new creation of sorts, and this is signaled by the calling of Abram, a special man (like Adam), to walk in Adonai’s authority to fulfill His plan of redemption.
Just as Adonai blessed Adam to be fruitful and multiply, so likewise, he promised Abram a multitude of descendants!
Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude” (Genesis 16:10).
And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly” (Genesis 17:2).
And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you” (Genesis 13:14-17).
Genesis 2:18-25—A Virginal Bride
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (Genesis 2:21-25).
After Adonai created Adam, he brought to him a virginal bride and they became one flesh. Thus, we see that Adam and Eve were integral parts of His plan of redemption. So likewise, Adonai chose Sarai as a virginal bride for Abram. This is mentioned in Genesis 11:29:
Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah.
As we continue in future cycles, the theme of the virginal bride will begin to take center stage. More importantly, we will eventually be able to see the connections between the virginal brides in the Torah and the bride of the Lamb in the book of Revelation.
Genesis 2:4-9—Man’s Work in His Ancestral Plot of Land
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:7-9).
After creating Adam and Eve, Adonai placed them in a special land created especially for them. So likewise, Adonai promised Abram and Sarai a special land for them and their descendants!
“Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). See also Genesis 12:7, 13:4, etc.
Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8).
I’ve only mentioned two Scriptures above, but there are numerous instances where Adonai promised Abram that He had a special land for Abram’s descendants. Although it was to be a future inheritance, it was firmly established and confirmed in many ways.
Genesis 2:10-14—Natural Riches of the Creation
Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
A river went out of Eden and watered the garden. So likewise, we read of how the plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord!
And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar (Genesis 13:10).
Genesis 3:16—Pain in Childbirth (Seed of the Woman)
To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
When most people look at this verse they tend to only think of one aspect of this consequence of Adam and Eve’s sin, the fact that there will be physical pain during the birthing process. However, this prophecy is not just limited to pain and childbirth. Please notice the portion of the verse that is in bold, italicized print. This portion pertains to a woman's sorrow and her conception, which is not the same as the pronouncement, “In pain you shall bring forth children!” In other words, the prophecy concerning sorrow and conception has as much to do with the sorrow of becoming pregnant as it does with the actual birthing process itself. Notice that the woman’s sorrow will be multiplied. In other words, there will be much sorrow that will accompany the bringing forth of children. I’m sure you are aware that Genesis 3:15-16 has a specific fulfillment concerning the bringing forth of Messiah Yeshua. If we temporarily limit this prophecy to its fulfillment in Yeshua, then we should understand there will be many sorrows that will accompany the establishment of the messianic seed. For example, remember how Herod had all the male babies two years old and under in Bethlehem and its surrounding areas slaughtered in an attempt to kill the messianic seed?
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping,
and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because
they are no more” Matthew 2:16-18.
These were sorrows associated with the bringing forth of Messiah Yeshua. Also, note the sorrow that attended Miriam (Mary) the mother of Yeshua. For her entire life she bore the stigma of an immoral woman concerning Yeshua. Remember how Joseph was going to divorce her privately, but was told otherwise by an angelic visitation? That was something that could not be hidden, and Miriam bore that stigma her entire life. The sting of that stigma can be heard in the remarks the Pharisees made to Yeshua when He told them the devil was their father.
Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” (John 8:19). “You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God” (John 8:41).
We know they were hinting at His seemingly-tainted birth because they were speaking in purely earthly terms when they made the comments above.
The sorrow in conception can also be seen in the matriarchs who suffered many things on account of their efforts to bring forth children.
Sarah bore the stigma a barrenness for decades and suffered through Hagar’s disrespect. Hagar despised Sarah because she was able to bear Abram a son when Sarah couldn’t.
Rebekah was barren the first twenty years of her married life. Isaac had to pray for her to conceive. And, once she finally conceived, she suffered a very difficult pregnancy.
Rachel suffered barrenness, and her barrenness was the root of all the dysfunction in Jacob’s family!
We could go on and on about the sorrows of barrenness that afflicted the women of God, especially those who brought forth children who would either function as messianic forerunners of Yeshua (like Isaac or Joseph), or who would play prominent roles in the plan of redemption (like the sons of Hannah, Manoah’s wife, Elizabeth, etc.). Therefore, it is plain to see that the judgment of Genesis 3:16 moves far beyond just the physical pain of childbirth. That pronouncement set in motion a specific determinism that dominated the lives of Israel’s matriarchs.
In our present text we read of how Sarah was barren, thus initiating the sorrows of conception.
But Sarai was barren; she had no child (Genesis 11:30).
This theme of pain in childbirth is hinted at again in Genesis 15:4-5:
And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
This promise was made to reassure Abram and Sarai that Adonai had not forgotten them and that He would eventually do the impossible. However, we should not lose sight of the suffering they endured as they patiently waited for the promise to be fulfilled.
And again, Genesis 17:15-16 also connects with Genesis 3:16 as follows:
Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”
There is another connection I’d like to share with you that helps strengthen the notion that we are to connect Sarah to Eve as it pertains to childbirth. Genesis 3:20 states:
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
This is thematically connected to Genesis 17:16 above where it is stated that Sarah shall be a mother of nations. Both women are thematically connected because Adonai specifically decreed that they were destined to be the mothers of a multitude of people.
Genesis 3:15-16—Enmity of the Seed and Pain in Childbirth
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
The passage above informs us that the woman will produce a seed that will crush the head of the serpent. In other words, we will be looking for the birth of a special son who will forever destroy the serpent.
We see a perfect parallel in the anticipated birth of Isaac! Isaac was the promised seed to Abraham and Sarah! Time does not permit me to meander into the subject of messianic prophecy in this series of articles, but in my Road to Emmaus series for this Substack, I demonstrate how Isaac is actually a prophetic foreshadowing of Messiah Yeshua. For now, I just want you to see how the promised birth of Isaac parallels the promise given to Eve that a special son will be born in the future who will crush the serpent’s head.
And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir” (Genesis 15:4).
Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the tent.” 10 And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” 13 And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!” (Genesis 18:9-15).
Genesis 3:20-21—Acts of Redemption
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
As noted in previous articles, either Adonai or his people perform acts of redemption throughout the book of Genesis. These are deeds that help establish and/or maintain the relationship between man and Adonai. The first act of redemption was performed by Adonai when he made clothing for Adam and Eve after their sin. Now we read about Abram performing an act of redemption by building an altar to help establish his relationship to Adonai.
And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD (Genesis 12:8). 18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD (Genesis 13:18).
Genesis 2:1-3—The Sign of the Sabbath
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
You should remember that Adonai gave signs to Adam and Noah, his previous representatives. He gave the sign of the Sabbath to Adam and the sign of the rainbow to Noah. So likewise, Adonai gave a sign to Abram, his latest regent on earth.
This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you (Genesis 17:10-11).
Genesis 3:15—Enmity of the Seed
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
Genesis 3:15 informs us that there will be enmity between the two seeds, the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. We learned the identity of the two seeds in an earlier article. According to Revelation 12:17, the seed of the woman are those who keep Adonai’s commandments and have the testimony of Yeshua.:
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17).
By analogy, the seed of the serpent consists of those who do not keep Adonai’s commandments and who don’t have the testimony of Yeshua.
This theme is also prominent in the narratives concerning Abraham and his descendants. Here are a few examples of how the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 will be played out in Abraham’s life and the lives of his descendants:
I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12:3).
And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand” (Genesis 14:19-20).
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:12-16).
Genesis 3:1-7—Fall into Sin
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Here, I want to show you how Adam and Eve’s sin is thematically repeated by Abram and Sarai! It is an unmistakable parallel! You might remember that in an earlier article I taught you about one of the Bible’s most often used literary devices, the parallelism. A parallelism is a literary device used to tell a story in such a manner that the progression of themes in the first half of the parallelism matches the progression of themes in the second half in thematic content and order. The pattern is similar to this:
This is one of the most profound and convincing techniques the Bible uses to match themes for you in order to teach some lesson. My theory of the case is that certain themes in Genesis 1-3 are repeated in an orderly, chronological and planned manner in subsequent stories in the Tanakh (Old Testament). It’s as if certain themes in Genesis 1-3 have predetermined the thematic progression of events of subsequent stories in an irresistible manner! This should not be a surprise to us, because the Bible is a supernatural, prophetic book, God-breathed and utterly inspired by the Spirit of Adonai. With that in mind, let’s see how it is Adonai’s intent for us to connect Adam and Eve’s sin in Genesis 3 to Abram and Sarai’s sin in Genesis 16! We will do this by studying the Parallelism of Genesis 3:1-4:1 and Genesis 16:1-16. The first half of the parallelism is found in Genesis 3:1-4:1 and it is shown first below. Then, the second half of the parallelism, Genesis 16:1-16, is shown after it. This is one of those beautiful examples where the two halves of a parallelism are in separate portions of Scripture (Genesis 3:1-4:1 versus Genesis 16:1-16), and not directly next to each other chronologically.
There are six themes in this parallelism labeled A-F. As you compare A to A’ and B to B’ (etc.) in the two halves of the parallelism, you will easily see the thematic connections between the two stories. I have used bold, italicized print to emphasize the themes connecting the parallel passages. Lastly, notice how the six themes in both stories occur in chronological order within their respective narratives, and yet each theme matches perfectly with each other when they are considered in a parallel arrangement!
Connection A/A’ pertains to Adonai intentionally withholding something desired by his people. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was withheld from Adam and Eve, whereas a son was withheld from Abram and Sarai.
In Connection B/B’ a woman gives something to her husband which becomes the basis for sin.
Connection C/C’ relates how a person’s eyes are opened to a new reality after performing a sin.
Connection D/D’ shows the fear and hiding that resulted from a sin.
Connection E/E’ focuses on the conflict that will occur because of the seed of the serpent.
Connection F/F’ are connected because of the birth of a child occurring after the main story.
This parallelism emphatically connects these two passages to each other. Furthermore, it is abundantly obvious that Adonai intentionally arranged the thematic patterns of these two stories and intended that we take notice. Abram, Adonai’s chosen regent, has sinned just as his forerunner, Adam! Furthermore, this thematic teaching concerning the pattern of judgments is further strengthened.
Genesis 3:8-13—Adonai Investigating Sin
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
After Adam and Eve sinned, we read how Adonai came and investigated to determine what had happened. We also read of such an occurrence in Genesis 19, prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In this instance, Adonai sent two angels to confirm the sins of the wicked cities.
And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know” (Genesis 18:20-21).
Genesis 3:22-24—Judgment/Exile
Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
As is always the case in the pattern of judgments, we start with a new creation, but we end with judgment! And such is the instance in our current cycle. The last theme of Minor Cycle #3 pertains to the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place! 13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it” (Genesis 19:12-13).
We have now come to the end of Minor Cycle #3 and have therefore completed Major Cycle #2! We will look at one last cycle in this pattern of judgments in the next article.
Here is a list of the 16 themes:
Genesis 1:1-25 – New Creation of the Universe
Genesis 1:26-28 – Man, God’s Image-Bearer, Commissioned to Exercise Dominion Over Creation
Genesis 1:29-31 – Man’s Diet
Genesis 2:1-3 – The Sign of the Sabbath
Genesis 2:4-9 – Man’s Work in His Ancestral Plot of Land
Genesis 2:10-14 – Natural Riches of the Creation
Genesis 2:15-17 – The Choice Between Life and Death
Genesis 2:18-25 – A Virginal Bride for the Man
Genesis 3:1-7 – Fall into Sin
Genesis 3:8-13 – Adonai Investigating Sin
Genesis 3:14 – The Curse on the Serpent
Genesis 3:15 – Enmity of the Seed
Genesis 3:16 – Pain in Childbirth
Genesis 3:17-19 – Curse on the Land
Genesis 3:20-21 – Acts of Redemption
Genesis 3:22-24 – Judgment
Unless otherwise noted, all quotations are from the New King James Bible.